Robbie Kruse scores twice in his first start for new Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen

Sun Sep 22 13:03:57 EST 2013

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Kruse control ... Australian soccer player Robbie Kruse (2nd R) bagged two goals on his first full start for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.

Getty Images / Bongarts: Thorsten Wagner

Australian Robbie Kruse has made a big impression in his first full game for new Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, scoring twice in a 4-1 win at Mainz 05 on Saturday.

The win came as league leaders Borussia Dortmund dropped the side's first points of the season with a 1-1 draw at Nuremberg, while Bayern Munich earned a 4-0 win at Schalke.

Leverkusen sits in third after their big away win, as Kruse scored two first-half goals, his first goals since joining from Fortuna Dusseldorf.

The 24-year-old drilled home a pass from Germany winger Sidney Sam after 19 minutes, set up Sven Bender for Leverkusen's second, then converted a pass from captain Simon Rolfes for Bayer's third just before half-time.

The league's joint top-scorer Stefan Kiessling then scored his fifth goal of the season when he headed home unmarked early in the second half, before Mainz midfielder Yunus Malli netted a late consolation.

Pep Guardiola's Bayern remain second in the table, but are now level with Dortmund on both goal difference and points after their win in Gelsenkirchen.

"That was our best performance so far in the Bundesliga, we dominated against one of the best teams in Germany," said Guardiola after his side enjoyed 70 percent ball possession against Schalke.

"We did very well over the 90 minutes which pleased me.

"In Germany, you have to limit your opponents' ability to counter-attack and we cut down their chances and controlled the game."

Despite making a bright start, Jens Keller's Schalke undid all their good work as first Munich vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, then striker Mario Mandzukic were left unmarked in the area to head home.

Schweinsteiger, back in the starting side after straining ankle ligaments last month, smashed home Arjen Robben's corner on 21 minutes and 60 seconds later, Mandzukic converted David Alaba's cross.

France winger Franck Ribery and then replacement striker Claudio Pizarro added late goals as Schalke's four-match winning run came to an abrupt halt.

Bayern have now gone 31 games without losing a Bundesliga match and have recorded 26 league wins and five draws since losing 2-1 loss to Leverkusen in October 2012.

Having won their first five league games, Dortmund stumbled as left-back Marcel Schmelzer's first-half free-kick was cancelled out by Nuremberg centre-back Per Nilsson's second-half strike.

"We wanted to play a little better, but we can live with the point," said Klopp before revealing both attacking midfielder Marco Reus and Schmelzer picked up injuries.

"Marcel has a hardening of his left thigh, we have to wait on him, while Marco has a heavily bruised thigh, which is extremely painful. It'll be close as to whether they play on Tuesday," Klopp added ahead of Dortmund's German Cup second-round clash at second division 1860 Munich.